“I do hope that we’ll get the dealer card because it’s a nice champagne cooler,” says Leonard Giess with confidence. The student traveled from Überlingen to the Pulheim rolling mill with his grandmother Elisabeth Hornstein. Horst Lichter is visibly pleased to have such a young guest. Especially since he introduces himself in a friendly manner: “I’m actually Leonard, but you can call me Lenny.” The gesture replies to the moderator: “If I can say Lenny, you can say Horst.”
Then Lichter praises the boy’s long blond hair: “You have a great hairstyle” – and gets an unexpected compliment: “You too,” says Lenny. The moderator is visibly touched and strokes his bald head: “The young man has a clue.”
Grandma Elisabeth is familiar with another area: she ran an antiques shop for years, which is how she came across the champagne cooler offered here: she accepted it as a means of payment at the time and used it a lot privately. In the meantime, she no longer has any large companies and wants to part with them.
Heide Rezepa-Zabel explains that silver coolers originated around 1894 and were manufactured by the Wilhelm Binder company in Schwäbisch Gmünd. It is in very good condition. This is one of the reasons why it comes to a gratifying estimated value. Although Elisabeth Hornstein would be satisfied with 700 euros, the material alone is worth that much. The expert sees the champagne cooler at 1000 to 1200 euros.
The dealers also see it that way: Waldi starts with 1080 euros. In the bidding war that follows, the price rises to 2,000 euros. In the end, Susanne Steiger was awarded the contract for this sum. “That’s double the expertise,” beams grandson Lenny. “I didn’t expect that. I’m really happy.”
Source: “Bares for Rares” in the ZDF media library
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